Monday, November 6, 2017

CCA Also Crowned the 2017 Italian League Champion
(Crotone, Italy)- Twenty teams gathered together on the beautiful bay
off Crotone, Italy to sail their third and final event of their 2017
Lega Italiano Vela (the Italian J/70 sailing league). The Club Velico
Crotone organized the event.

Il Circolo Canottieri Aniene was the winner of the 2017 season of the
Italian Sailing League. With a flawless series, built with four first,
one second and one third in the six races, the CCA team (Lorenzo
Bressani, Luca Tubaro, Matteo Mason and Umberto Molineris) dominated the
league’s finale.

It
was an extremely tactical first day, with a wildly shifting wind. The
second day had strong winds, challenging the crews, particularly on
their boat-handling and planing mode angles downwind. On the final day,
it was a steady, but streaky breeze of 11 to 15 kts. It was readily
apparent to everyone on the race track, the CCA team had it nailed all
weekend long.

"This season we have rallied hard several times, and we have been able
to think about the best strategies and tactics. We changed Matteo
Mason's role, adding to jib trim the role of tactician, too. It was a
winning choice, a necessary one for the high level of this finale, which
was well above last year,“ commented Lorenzo Bressani- skipper of the
CCA team.

In
addition, as it always happens in high-level one-design regattas, the
training and crew make the difference; as was evident by the performance
of the next two teams on the podium. Second place went to the Yacht
Club Adriaco- represented by the victorious J/70 Worlds Corinthian crew
(Gianfranco Noè, Emanuele Noè, Andrea Micalli and Samuele Maria Semi).
Then, placing third was the Circolo della Vela Bari with crew of Simone
Ferrarese, Michele Lecce, Corrado Capece Minutolo, and Gianmaria Foglia.

"We
have an exceptional field of racing sailors,” commented the LegaVela
President Roberto Emanuele de Felice. “It was a perfect venue for
racing. A thank you to President Verri and his team- Crotone really did
their best to host a wonderful event. Congratulations to the Circolo
Canottieri Aniene, which in this finale embodied great spirit and
tremendous talent needed. The LIV Formula is outstanding, and it is
clear the level of J/70 racing by all clubs is getting much higher."

“Remarkably, 11 teams had at least a first place,” said LIV Executive
Vice President Alessandro Maria Rinaldi. “This shows the top level
talent of all crews! It was clear that CCA had talent and experience,
the Club has trained more this year by taking part in the selections at
St. Petersburg's Sailing Champions League and at the SAILING Champions
final in Porto Cervo. The competitive level was also very high for the
other Clubs and for that reason Legavela Servizi will set up a special
2018 bid for sailing clubs that want to train and participate in 2018. A
warm and hearty 'Thank You' goes to all the yacht club staff that
enabled this event to take place. Thanks Crotone and goodbye to next
year!" Italian J/70 Sailing League video summaryFollow Italian J/70 Sailing League on Facebook here For more Italian J/70 Sailing League informationAdd to Flipboard Magazine.